By CARL SETTERLUND
Mix Diskerud tried his best to send Landon Donovan out with a win.
The 24-year-old gave the U.S. Men’s National Team a 1-0 lead in the fifth minute of Friday night’s friendly against Ecuador at the University of Connecticut’s Rentschler Field. Although Donovan didn’t score or have an assist, Diskerud at least did him the courtesy of netting on a scoring chance that Donovan initiated with an in-swinger from the left sideline.
Jozy Altidore settled the Donovan ball and it moved on the ground to DeAndre Yedlin and then Diskerud, who stepped into a clinical side-footed finish from 12 yards out in front of goal. It was the fourth senior level USMNT goal for the up-and-coming Rosenborg midfielder.
Diskerud was one of three field players to go the full 90 minutes and he had a well-rounded night, with 46 successful passes out 61. He also tracked back well on the defensive side.
DeAndre Yedlin, Greg Garza, Tim Chandler and Brad Guzan were also in consideration for SBI Man of the Match honors.
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What did you think of Mix Diskerud’s performance? Which players stood out the most to you in the USMNT’s 1-1 draw Ecuador?
Share your thoughts below.
Woods was just awful. and lets not look for excuses. Garza was big. athletic and hustled a lot. Those guys are a dime a dozen. Too bad Yedlin is going to England. That could easily arrest his technical developement and he needs a lot of that. LD was the glue that held the game together. Once he left, everything deteriorated rather badly.. Right now, the USMT has no one to replace what he does. Maybe Maybe someone will show up but it aint Zusi.
GTV’s player ratings (not comprehensive):
Guzan – 7.5. Nothing to be done on the goal. Solid as usual.
Chandler – 7. Impressed by his speed and willingness to go forward.
Brooks – 6. Did his job.
Garza -7. Liked him a lot. Hustled.
Yedlin – 7.5. Spurs have to be licking their lips for him,
Mix – 8.5. Clearly MOTM. Not just the goal, but the hustle in midfield. Seemed to be everywhere.
Jozy – 6. To be fair, he tried to set up Landon, but also look unsure when he had chances himself.
Donovan – 6. Not really fair to rate him. Wish he had finished one of his 4 good chances.
Gyau – not enough to rate, but he looks great. relieved he is not seriously hurt.
Wondo – 6. Steady.
Ream – 7. Very good. Great block to save the goal before the score for Ecuador.
Guzan nothing to be done? How about stonewalling the guy on the breakaway and then right after that palms a shot away that was behind him? That was a heck of a save sequence. Worst players on the day, Corona, Ream, Brooks, Wondo, and Bedoya. I thought Omar did well to stay on his feet a number of times. Most impressive for me was Yedlin, Mixx, Garza, Wood, Chandler in that order. Steady games for Jozy, Donovan, Orozco and Guzan. Brooks showed some rust. Wondo you always know what he will bring, hustle and poor technical skill. Bedoya looked to be forcing things too much. As for Corona I am still waiting to see what everyone is so excited about with this guy, I have not been impressed with any of his performances with the Nats. To be fair Ream was put in late when things were falling apart but he seemed to let it get to him and seemed a little frantic and out of position at times. Just my 2 cents.
I thought Diskerud played well for the first 60 minutes or so, the like everyone else he seemed to lose his legs. I was disappointed in Corona. Although I am still trying to figure out what position he was playing. This formation looked like a 4-2-3-1, not a 4-3-3. I thought they definitely played better in the 4-4-2. That may have been because of the presence of Donovan. I was impressed with Chandler. He showed up last night with a lot of energy. It looked to me like he got fouled in the box. Overall I was impressed with the skill level of these young guys. They did seem to hit a wall physically. Ream looked to passive to me such as on the goal.
Im starting to hate Wondo….
90+3 minute, US sends the ball into Ecuador’s 18 box, Wondo brings the ball down with his chest, no defender on him, no pressure… and sends a weakly, half-ass left footer pass to an ecuadorian defender.
Im starting to hate Klinsmman…
I thought Yedlin was motm he should’ve had 3 assist
Unlucky to not have a goal either. That was just a bang bang save. Many times that will be a goal
My one gripe w/ Diskerud last night was his decision in the second half on the break to make a pass out wide to Yedlin rather than attack the goal himself. There were at least two other instances in that half where we passed up shots to deliver an extra and unnecessary pass(Jozy and Bobby Wood). JK was right. We played well for the first 60 minutes or so but poorly in the final 30.
Yeah, I would go with Mixx as well. Only other person that played for me was Guzan.
That said, I think Jozy played better than others have said. His hold up play was solid. His back heel to LD and the other pass to Corona were really nice.
Ya, Jozy had a good game. I dunno why people are so down on him this game. He gave 2 people shots with only the keeper to beat. Clint would have put on of those away and then bam “magically” Jozy had a good game.
I wonder why Jürgen didn’t trust Mix in Brazil? Interesting to see Bedoya play in the Dmid/6 role. Thank You Landon!
Why? because we had Brad Davis instead
I was thinking about that too. Was Mix hurt that we didn’t know about cause he lost his starting job late last year with his club.
Just have to say…THAT PHOTO. Sign the man up for a hair product commercial asap.
great play by Diskerud. Disputes the argument that US soccer system doesnt know how to develop technical players..oh wait
Thought we might see the diamond with Yedlin on the right. Could we see FJ take over that role. He has always been a good assist guy
FJ our best passer. We really should consider moving him up in Midfield and have Chandler or Yedlin at RB
Diskerud played excellent while creating chances and definitely put in work to get back on defense as well. Love watching him play.
Altidore looked solid but should have been more aggressive and taken a nice ball from Yedlin and put it in the net right before he went out.
Yedlin looked good but needs to work on his skills. If the man can learn a few moves he’d be deadly on the right wing.
Hadn’t seen much of Garza but was very impressed. Great performance to put him on the map as the LB of the future.
Chandler, Wood, Ream…not impressed.
Agree with you on Mix. I still would like to see him put on 5 lbs of muscle and start to boss a bit more physically, but he has great ball control, patience in tight spaces, vision and distribution. He needs some more work/experience, but I think he has the potential become the most complete central midfield player we’ve ever had.
I liked Garza also. Put himself solidly on the depth chart tonight with great effort and positioning defensively. Not as good getting forward as some of our other options, but probably a better defender than those.
Chandler actually impressed a bit tonight, but my opinion of him wasn’t that high before the game, so it isn’t saying much. Worth more looks during this development year through Gold Cup 2015.
I think Wood deserves more looks. He worked hard and created a lot of opportunities but failed to finish them off. It could have been just nerves and something he can correct